Dubai: The prayer room at the Sikh temple of Guru Nanak Darbar in Dubai stands empty and its floors are covered in plastic, as the venue makes a few adjustments while preparing to welcome worshippers back in.
As it continues to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the United Arab Emirates has begun to allow houses of worship to reopen.
Dubai's Sikh temple will run temperature checks and make sure people maintain a distance from each other while observing short prayers.
"There will be no sitting down, no standing inside the temple," said Surender Kandhari, the chairman of the temple.
People will only walk in, observe prayers then walk out from another door.
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Kandhari is hoping the temple will serve 300 to 500 worshippers in the morning and the same number of faithful in the evening.
The Sikh community has been offering food to construction workers who lost their jobs amid the pandemic.
The temple usually serves food to anyone who walks in from 4:30 in the morning until 10:00 in the evening.
Kandhari says during the pandemic they had to shut down their kitchen, but they continued to feed the needy by sending meals to labour camps and locations where coronavirus patients were being quarantined.
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The community is currently helping arrange repatriation flights for workers who are stuck in Dubai and unable to return home.
There are four repatriation flights scheduled in the upcoming days, Kandhari said.
The repatriation flights to Punjab are free to anyone who cannot afford to pay.
Kandhari said the funds are provided through contributions and offerings from members of the community.
Kandhari estimates that there are over 150,000 Sikhs in the country, 80% of whom are blue-collar workers, in construction or contracting companies.
(AP)
